Encyclopedia of Mathematics Rebirth

Ten years ago, Kluwer published an online version of the multi-volume Encyclopaedia of Mathematics (QA5 .M37213 1988, Math Reference) , which had been translated and updated from the original 1977 Russian version, Matematicheskaya entsiklopediya. After Springer bought Kluwer, this online version ceased being updated and was made freely available online.

Now, Springer and the European Mathematical Society are sponsoring the conversion of this respected work into a public wiki encyclopedia. An editorial board led by Ulf Rehmann (Univ. Bielefeld) will oversee the future development of this publicly available resource. They encourage mathematicians everywhere to contribute to the transformation of this important resource.

Journal of Fluid Mechanics

Library Collection Shift Almost Complete

The two students who have been working on our collection have finished their book by book inventory. They have reshifted the main floor (A-QA272) and have almost finished reshifting our upper floor (QA273-Z). There is now lots of room for future growth.

Their last task will be reshifting the journals collection in Math Storage. There should be plenty of room down there too.

You may request journal vols. at any time through the catalog, by email, or in person. Should you ever want to go there, remember to get the call number first before you go. The journals there are now in Library of Congress call no. order. This helps us manage the collection better.

News Flash

Our brand new Mathematics Research Library homepage should appear in the next week or so. Let us know what you think once made public.

UW dissertations and theses are moving online in 2012. The UW Graduate School and UW Libraries will begin accepting dissertations and theses electronically for online publication in UW Libraries’ Research Works collection during Winter Quarter. While optional during Winter Quarter, electronic deposit of dissertations and theses will become mandatory later in 2012. Students can choose from several access options. More information to come.

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Tips of the Month:

UW Proxy Bookmarklet

Most of the databases, electronic journals and e-books available through the Libraries are restricted to UW faculty, students and staff. If you want to connect to a UW-restricted resource from outside of the UW campus network, you must log in through the UW Libraries off-campus proxy:

If you often do your research from off-campus, we recommend you install the very convenient proxy bookmarklet on your browser’s bookmarks toolbar. This bookmarklet lets you authenticate yourself without having to move from the webpage you are on. More info….

Springer’s My Copy Ebooks
Personal Copies Available for $24.99

UW students, faculty, and staff may purchase for their own use, a paper bound copy of most Springer ebooks in UW’s subscribed collection. These are mostly titles from 2005+ in mathematics, statistics, computer science, and physics. Access Springerlink via an UW on-campus or proxied account to find a book. The symbol indicates UW access. Check at the top of the title’s record for this text in the orange bar:

Buy a Print Copy (USD 24.95)

MyCopy (Printed Books)
Because your library provides access to one or more Springer eBook packages, SpringerLink exclusively offers you MyCopy books. You can order a printed copy of this book in black-and-white with a full-color, soft cover. It will be shipped conveniently to your home or work address. The delivery time is approximately 8-11 business days.The price is USD 24.95 per book and includes shipping and handling.

INTERVIEWS WITH MATHEMATICIANS

Cornell’s Eugene B. Dynkin Collection of Mathematics Interviews

Cornell University Library has acquired a collection of nearly 150 audio and video recordings of interviews of mathematicians–many are Russian mathematicians–conducted over 50 years by Eugene Dynkin, Cornell’s Emeritus A. R. Bullis Professor of Mathematics. The recordings are now available online.

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IMU Blog on Mathematical Journals

The IMU and the ICIAM have created a joint working group to study “whether or not a joint ICIAM/IMU method of ranking mathematical journals should be instituted, and what other possible options there may be for protecting against the inappropriate use of impact factors and similar manipulable indices for evaluating research.”

Before going ahead and taking any further action the IMU and ICIAM want to
explore opinions on a larger scale and get as much input as possible from the mathematical community. That is why a “Blog on Mathematical Journals” has been installed. Input from a wide range of persons is wanted to discuss this important issue and prepare for the final decision process.

Welcome to the new academic year!

EBooks@UW Libraries: Math & Stat

In addition to the thousands of volumes shelved in Math Research Library and elsewhere on campus, Math and Stat researchers have access to many ebooks in their disciplines. Most math and stat ebooks can be found in these collections:

Scanner Now Available

All UW Libraries branch libraries now have at least one scanner available for public use. These new scanners were funded by STF funds. Ours is attached to MRL’s sit-down PC in the center of our main floor. Users must log into this PC with their UWNetID.

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In response to requests from MathSciNet users and librarians, MathSciNet now offers tutorials on how to get the most out of searching. These tutorials treat each of the tabbed areas of MathSciNet—Publications, Authors, Journals, and Citations—as well as Free Tools and Preferences. The tutorials help users to take advantage of the rich structure of the databases underlying MathSciNet–most will find a feature or search of use that they have not previously used.

This exhibit marks International Open Access Week and is displayed in the Allen Library, North Lobby, Oct. 10-31, 2011.

Scholarly publishing is in a state of flux. While the book and journal remain the primary vehicles for communicating published scholarship, how their content is reviewed, packaged, paid for, distributed, discovered, accessed, and preserved has changed over the last few years and continues to change rapidly. Many traditions of scholarly publishing remain, but new options, driven by new technologies and changing economic models, are now available and are becoming increasingly accepted in the scholarly community.

We invite you to explore some of those options in this exhibit. We hope this content is informative, that it answers some questions while raising others, and that it brings to light some of the problems that the academic community faces in the current scholarly publishing environment.

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UW Libraries Research Commons

The UW Libraries Research Commons, located on the ground floor of the Allen Library South, has many spaces available for students and faculty to support group research, presentations, seminars, and colloquia. The Research Commons opened a little less than one year ago, and is designed as an evolving, flexible space that fosters interdisciplinary conversation and provides research support via the Libraries and campus partnerships.

Graduate Student Workshops: In partnership with the Graduate School, the Libraries is kicking off a new year of graduate student workshops in the Research Commons.

Drop-in Writing Consultations: The Odegaard Writing and Research Center is now offering morning drop-in consultations in the Research Commons — for graduate students only — twice a week. Tutors staffing these consulting hours are experienced in supporting graduate level research and writing for a wide range of academic and professional purposes. Autumn Quarter: Mondays and Thursdays 10:30am-noon. No reservations required. First-come, first served.

Whiteboard Capture: The Research Commons features whiteboard surface tables, mobile whiteboards, whiteboard walls and dry-erase markers for checkout. We also have an EBeam Edge interactive whiteboard system that can be checked out and used within the Research Commons to turn any whiteboard surface into a digital and interactive copyboard. Use the EBeam to create a video or image capture of a presentation, brainstorming session, or TA consultation in the Research Commons.

Interested in seeing your students’ work displayed in the space for a poster session or longer-term exhibit? Contact uwlibrc@uw.edu.

Faculty Fund for Library Excellence

The UW Faculty Senate has unanimously approved a resolution establishing the Faculty Fund for Library Excellence.

Passed by the senate on March 10 and established March 25, the donation fund could help compensate for budget losses at the UW Libraries, and return the Libraries to their previous ranking.

The Faculty Council on University Libraries kicked off the fund with a $2,700 donation. Joyce Cooper, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and chair of the council, said donation goals will be discussed during the council meeting on April 6.

Thanks go to the voting members of the Faculty Council on University Libraries for this show of support for the Libraries:

According to the UW Libraries Triennial Survey, faculty members rate University Libraries the most important source of information for their work. From 1980 onward, the UW had been in the top 15 percent of American and Canadian research libraries, according to data from the Association of Research Libraries. Now, though, because of budget cutbacks, it’s in the top 25 percent.

Donations will be used to buy and preserve books, journals and other materials for libraries on all three UW campuses: Seattle, Tacoma and Bothell.

Tuesday, April 12, Libraries staff and students will wield cameras, solicit comments, and gather statistics for a 24-hour period to illustrate the value of libraries through stories, photographs and statistics.

Libraries Snapshot Day is a nation-wide effort sponsored by the American Library Association to illustrate the importance of libraries and to show the vast range of services and resources we provide to the campus, community and state. The goal is to create a one-day “snapshot” of what goes on in libraries by collecting user quotes, images, photos, and data related to library activity. We want to illustrate the kinds of services offered by the UW Libraries, and most importantly, the value these services add to teaching, research, and scholarship.

The information gathered will become part of a historic archive in the UW Libraries. Selected photos will be featured in our public Snapshot webpage and may be used in future library promotional material. This event is being conducted in all UW Libraries on all campuses.

Send us any comments you might have about Mathematics Research Library or the UW Libraries in general. The webpage below has links to tools you can use to send any comments or photos you want to share.